Budget 2020: What does the Finance Minister have in store for the farmers?

According to the 2011 Census, a little over 61% of India’s population is rural and dependent upon agriculture. With such a large population dependent upon it, agriculture continues to be the mainstay for Indian economy and for the spread of prosperity. The year 2019 saw the Modi government present two Budgets, the interim Budget on February 1, 2019 and the full Budget on July 5, 2019 after winning the elections.

The year 2019 saw one big idea for the farm sector. This was the launch of PM-Kisan scheme for the small and marginal farmers in the interim budget presented on Feb 1, 2019. According to the scheme, Rs 6,000 was to be provided to all small and marginal farmers in three equal instalments during the year. In July, 2019 this scheme was extended to all farmers in the country. How has PM-Kisan performed in the last year?

We are in the middle of the Rabi season and have just had a bout of winter rains in north India. We also had a good monsoon in 2019. How are the signs from India’s farms as we go to Budget 2020?

How are we placed to achieve Modi government’s ambitious target of doubling farm incomes by 2022? Why do we have crises like the recent onion crisis? Can Budget 2020 help find a policy solution for it?

Sanjeeb Mukherjee, Business Standard’s Farm Editor joins this podcast to answer these questions and more. Listen to the podcast for more.

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